Chasing Shadows Part II
by ODSTrules
Summary: Daniel finally has a day off, which means nothing can go wrong right? Meanwhile Sarah and Cheryl get ready for a party.


Daniel

Daniel walked down the sidewalk in Ravenwood, headed for the Myth Classroom. Cyrus had given him the day off of guarding Kelly, and he planned to spend it catching up on his reading. Entering the class, he flopped down on the back stool, and started to read. The book was about the ethics of Minion Summoning. There was a growing group in the Myth school which opposed the summoning and binding of Minions, and especially of spells that sacrificed minion's lives to heal the Wizard or give him energy. The others were for it, and Daniel supported that, while still agreeing that Minions' lives should not be treated as disposable. The book was fascinating, offering arguments for both sides, but just as Daniel turned the page, the door was flung open, and Kelly came running in.

Even more curiously, she was sobbing. Daniel stood up and walked over to the stool she had sat on.

"Hey, shhh. It's okay Kelly. What's the matter?" She opened her mouth, then broke into a fresh wave of tears. Daniel patted her back, and looked up at Cyrus. The Professor's eye was twitching as he said,

"Why don't you take her away somewhere where I am not working and deal with this there." Daniel nodded, and turned back to Kelly.

"How about we go back to my house and I'll give you something warm to drink okay?" he said. he nodded, and he held her arm and teleported. Cyrus sighed. Some days he honestly had no clue why he held a job that involved teenagers.

Daniel and Sarah popped out of thin air at his house. She looked around at his Dragon's Fjord, impressed. They walked up the path and into the house. Daniel pointed her towards the table, and he went and made a pot of tea. When he gave it to her, she drank up, and wiped her eyes.

"So what happened?" Daniel asked.

"There's this Diviner I like," she started. Daniel resisted the urge to put his face in his palms. First, he did not like to handle romantic drama. Second, it was common knowledge that Storm and Myth wizards and witches fought like cats and dogs. "And I thought he liked me because he asked if I wanted to go to this party tonight in the Fairegrounds, but I was walking back to Ravenwood, and I saw him making out with this Fire witch in an alley!" She burst back into tears. Daniel sighed and patted her on the back. So much for a day off.

"How about we go to Mooshu, have a little picnic?" he said. She sniffled a little, then brightened.

"That sounds wonderful!" He packed up some food into his pack, and they set off. He led her to a nice field in the Shoshun Village. As they sat and ate, Kelly began to stare at him. "You have this look in your eye Daniel. What is it?" He stood and led her to a spot of bare ground. He knelt and brushed the ground. Looking up into the sky as he said,

"This is the last place I ever saw my parents. They stayed to help fend off an attack when I was about ten, and I've never heard from them since." Kelly looked up at him.

"I'm sorry that they're g-" He cut her off with a burning look in his eye.

"They're not gone. I know they're out there somewhere. I know it." he said with more intensity than he had intended. Kelly hugged him, and Daniel realized how much he wanted to be right.

"Hey, Daniel, I forgot to mention that my family is hosting a party tonight, and my father said you could come on the condition that you be a part of the security detail." Daniel shook his head. Kelly's father always wanted an excuse to keep an eye on him.

"Sure. Let's go." They gathered the picnic up and teleported out, as the sun began to set on Mooshu.

Sarah

Sarah threw her hands up in frustration. The load of papers on her desk were truly monumental. Reports from the battlefield, requests for help from a dozen different students, her own homework, and letters from various other worlds. There was so much there that she had had to move some of it to the floor. Getting up from her chair Sarah went into her house's kitchen and made pot of coffee. Suddenly, Cheryl popped out of the air with an electric shock. Sarah dropped her cup, spilling it.

"Jeez! Don't do that, you'll give me a heart attack!" she said. Cheryl laughed.

"Sorry. Anyway, I was just checking in on you." she said. Sarah sighed. T be honest she didn't mind, but she still didn't want Cheryl to make a habit of it.

"Not to good. I have so much crap on my plate right now that I don't even have time to sleep." she said as she poured a new cup of coffee. Cheryl got a small smile and said,

"Get a nice robe. We're going out tonight!" she said. Sarah laughed and said,

"Thanks, but I don't have time to." Cheryl frowned.

"This is why you're stressed. You don't give yourself any time for fun stuff. Please Sarah! There's a party at the Titanbreaker's house and it will be awesome!" Cheryl had grabbed Sarah's robes and was practically shouting into her face.

"Okay." Sarah said plucking Cheryl's hands off of her. She walked into her bedroom and pulled out a long red dress that she had only ever used for a few awards ceremonies. It was flattering, but still gave her enough space to strap a wand to her thigh. When she came back to the kitchen, she found Cheryl waiting there, wearing a tight purple dress. Sarah felt her heart beat a little faster. "Don't you think that we're a little overdressed?" she said. Cheryl shook her head.

"Some of the finest wizards in the Spiral are coming, and with any luck, they'll be leaving with us. Now are you ready?" Cheryl asked. Sarah nodded, unsure of her voice. They teleported to the Titanbreaker house, where the party was well underway. Sarah looked around, and nodded. Cheryl had been right. She recognized dozens of the top wizards that she worked with , as well as some that she had heard of. As they began to mingle, she thought she spotted a familiar blue beret, but the Commander of the Grizzleheim operation came up and she forgot all about it. Cheryl and Jonathan Stormsword, the Second in Command in Mooshu, were dancing together, Sarah noticed. She glanced over and saw Daniel leaning with his back against a column. Making her way over, she got to him and said,

"Enjoying the party?" he straightened up and gave her a look.

"I was only invited to be on security detail." he said. She made a pouty face, and he laughed. "What about you?" he said. She snorted.

"You think I came here willingly? Cheryl dragged me here as her plus one." Daniel laughed.

"So where is she?" he asked. Sarah looked around. When she spotted her friend, she froze.

"She's about to fight Jonathan Stormsword." she said, pointing. The two had their wands out and were screaming at one another. Daniel's eyes widened and he unsheathed his spear as he ran. Sarah followed, pulling out her own wand.

"Why are you being such a jerk?" Cheryl was shouting, as Jacob roared back,

"I didn't! All I said was that you've probably never been on the fronlines!" Cheryl growled audibly and her wand flashed as a swarm of Lightning Bats exploded from it, accelerating towards Johnathan. Sarah watched as Daniel lept off the steps and rolled up in between the two, taking the full brunt of the attack. He staggered backwards, then straightened up.

"Cheryl," he said, "I would say that you should go home. Sarah, make sure she gets there." Sarah nodded and pulling Cheryl's wand from her hand, headed for the door with the feisty witch in tow. As she went, she could hear Daniel talking to Jonathan. "That witch has seen more war in one week than you probably have in your whole life. If you don't believe me, then how about we settle this the old fashioned way." Jonathan sputtered,

"Do you know who I am? I am the SECOND IN COMMAND in Mooshu, and if you do not leave immediately I will have you-" Daniel had thrust his spear right next to the man's throat.

"I. Don't. Care. Who. You. Are. You probably don't know the first thing about war. And if you did, you'd prove it here and now." Jonathan nodded and said,

"Well then, let's duel." At this, Sarah opened the door and pushed Cheryl through. To be honest, she was worried. Daniel could handle himself in a fight, but Jonathan was a tough fighter as well. Cheryl had flopped onto Sarah's bed. She ran into the other room and cme back in some pajamas.

"I wanted to watch Johnathan get his ass kicked!" she said. Sarah sighed and swapped her clothes too.

"You know that if Daniel lost, you would feel guilty about watching." Sarah said. Cheryl nodded. They sat on the bed next to one another silently, until Cheryl turned to Sarah and said,

"You know what, to hell with it." and kissed her. Sarah was stunned, but felt the electricity, both literal and figurative, coming off of Cheryl and returned it with some heat of her own. The two broke it and started laughing.

"I didn't know you were Bi Cheryl. Seriously, never called it." Sarah said. Cheryl giggled and said,

"I didn't know you were either." Sarah waved her hand.

"Honey, men have never been my thing." she said. Cheryl laughed hard, and fell off the bed. Sarah pulled her back up and climbed on top of her "I guess you starting that fight had a silver lining after all." she said.

Daniel

Daniel observed his foe. Jonathan was a Storm Wizard, which meant he would have trouble accurately hitting Daniel with his spells, but if they did, then he was in trouble. The partygoers had backed up, and the other guards had put up shields of all kinds in front of them. At last, Jonathan fired off a Stormzilla, then a Kraken, followed by another, evidently trying to end the fight early. Daniel took a few hits and sent a Troll at him, waiting for Jonathan to dodge the slow moving attack. As he had predicted, the diviner sidestepped, and Daniel released an Orthrus that bounded into Jonathan and slashed him with it's claws and teeth before erupting into golden sparks. Jonathan staggered to his feet, but Daniel didn't give him time to cast something else. He used his wand attacks to raise columns of fire, burning him again and again, until he was flung back by a powerful force. Albert Titanbreaker stood before them, his blue eyes burning like stars.

"ENOUGH!" he roared, "Daniel, go to your house. Mr. Stormblade, I apologize on his behalf, but I will say that you did start this. I think you should return home as well." Daniel and Jonathan teleported, leaving the party. Daniel appeared in his house and collapsed. He checked his health. It was about halfway gone. He had been sloppy, let Jonathan get too many hits in. But before he could think any more about, it, sleep overcame him.

When he woke up, he was covered in scrolls. Opening them, he saw that they were all from Kelly, who had seen the fight, but couldn't leave the house to check on him. He pulled up a scroll of his own and wrote, '_Feeling fine, don't worry. -Daniel'_. He sent it. To be honest, he didn't feel fine. His head ached, his scars were hurting, and he was pretty sure he had broken a bone in his leg. and his hand was scorched. As he flexed it, another scroll popped up. This one was from Mr. Titanbreaker, and all it said was _Come here_. Daniel sighed and murmured,

"No good deed goes unpunished." He teleported to the mark he had set in the Titanbreaker Villa.

Once there, he was greeted by Albert himself, who led him into his office and closed the door. Albert motioned for him to sit.

"Daniel, you have done me a huge favor. Jonathan needed to be taken down a few pegs, and I guess that you were just the man to do it." Daniel was stunned. He had expected that he was in hot water. "Now I want you to go to my doctor, who is waiting in the garden, and get fixed up. Afterwards, you can shower in the guest room, which is in the back." Daniel stood and said,

"Thank you sir. You are very generous." He limped into the garden where a Satyr healed him, and then walked to the guest room. After his shower, he pulled on his pants just in time, as Kelly came bounding in.

"OH THANK GOODNESS THAT YOU'RE OKAY!" she said as she hugged him hard enough that he thought he may explode.

"Easy Kelly. I'm alright." he said. She released him, and looked at him.

"That was really nice what you did there." she said.

"You'll understand once you've been to the frontlines for a while." he said. She looked down at his chest, where the scars from Grizzleheim still marred his flesh.

"Where'd you get those?" she asked. He waved it off.

"It's a long story." He pulled on the rest of his gear and straightened his beret. Kelly looked up at him.

"Well, I need to go visit the Library, so we have plenty of time." she said. Daniel sighed, then laughed.

"Alright," he said, "It started when my commander Sarah called me to Merle Ambrose's house."

Sarah

Sarah woke up, and slipped out of bed. She turned to it and looked at sleeping Cheryl. Sarah had a feeling that Cheryl would be staying at her place for the next little while. Making a pot of coffee, she smiled, looking out at the sunrise.

"Morning," a faint voice whispered into her ear. Cheryl hugged Sarah, placing her head on her shoulder as the two looked out at the sun rise. Their moment was interrupted by the pop of a scroll. Sarah grabbed it.

"Crap." she said. She once again dropped her coffee and started pulling on her gear.

"What is it?" Cheryl asked, pulling on her own gear. Sarah looked at her.

"Another sighting of monsters in the safe zone. I need you to find Jacob, okay? Once you do, meet me in Merle Ambrose's house. I'll see you later." She gave her a quick kiss, then ran out the door. What she had left out when she told Cheryl was that a student had been attacked by one of the monsters. She needed the only people she could trust to handle this. Or else the next attack could become a murder.


End file.
